


Tally Marks

by Ratin8tor



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28500627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ratin8tor/pseuds/Ratin8tor
Summary: What did the tally marks in the Doctor's cell truly mean?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Tally Marks

Tally Marks

To any outside observer, they’d just be marks for the days.

_Tally Mark One_

Using the sonic screwdriver to bypass the lock. No deadlock seal, amateur really, she was honestly almost offended by how simplistic it was. Down the corridor, left, then right, though they were all pretty much the same at this point. Lifetimes of identical corridors, it’s as if designers had no imagination. And who put in so many dead ends? You couldn’t reason with a wall. Nor with the guards that escorted her back to her cell.

_Tally Mark Twenty-One_

A simple matter transporter, rudimentary really, beautiful in its primitive. The ever-trusty sonic screwdriver, still at hand despite all the attempts to find it, could easily enlarge the beam and allow it to work in the opposite direction. Brilliant, really. Shame the end location was in the kitchen, occupied with armed guards. Also a shame to see where her food came from and, well, at least they took recycling seriously in this station. Pity they didn’t bother to change the colour... or the taste.

_Tally Mark Three Hundred_

The riskiest plan, one that would probably leave the sonic screwdriver out of action, but after being stuck in here so long... well, in order to go home, one had to go big. Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow in the cage walls, create a short circuit feedback that should allow a chance to break through the wires and make a dash for the angel. Then it was a simple matter of unlocking the shackles and piggybacking on it to freedom. 

_Tally Mark Three Hundred and One_

No sonic screwdriver, the power flow was too much, but it had made a good distraction to throw while trying to make a break for it. Three steps off the normal path, good start.

_Tally Mark Seven Hundred and Forty Two_

Turns out that the walls can be dug through, given four and a half billion years. But given that the sentence was only three billion, didn’t seem like the best bet. Plus there was only so many spoons one could request.

_Tally Mark One Thousand, Six Hundred and Six_

Camera 37 was stubborn, that was clear, but Camera 38 seemed to take a liking to her, if it could perhaps be convinced to switch off at just the right moment, just out of politeness. That’d certainly make things a lot easier. Now to play the long game.

_Tally Mark Two Thousand and Twenty_

Biting through the cage = not a good idea. Too stringy, ruined the appetite.

_Tally Mark Three Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety Seven_

None of the other inmates could really help. Bonnie and Clyde spent most of the three thousandth escape trying to kill her, and the P-Ting was easily subdued if fed the right ingredients. Angela wasn’t much of a talker, so no hope getting out there. There was that one alien though, the Silent, that might be a good idea...

_Tally Mark Three Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety Eight_

None of the other inmates could help. There was that one alien though, the Silent, that might be a good idea...

_Tally Mark Three Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety Nine_

None of the other inmates could help. There was that one alien though, the Silent, that might be a good idea...

_Tally Mark Four Thousand_

A message, warning that the Silent was no hope... that’d have to be remembered.

_Tally Mark Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Sixty Five_

There weren’t that many options left. Any attempt to break free was thwarted, and security was put in place. Clearly some sort of temporal mechanical lock that allowed the prison guards to see into the future and halt any attempts before they started. Yes, that made sense. That’s why escape was impossible. Otherwise...

_Tally Mark Six Thousand, Two Hundred and Three_

Contacting past selves, very tricky, not at all encouraged. But maybe one of them could come along and give a hand. Even old Technicolour Coat or  Sandshoes at a pinch. Sure, there was probably a psychic jammer around the place, but to just push through...

_Tally Mark Six Thousand, Nine Hundred and Thirty Four_

Nineteen years. Nineteen years, in the same place, in the same time. That’s what someone would see, if they were to count all the tally marks in the cell. That’s what they conclude.

But not to the Doctor. To the Doctor they were six thousand, nine hundred and thirty four ways of not breaking out of this prison. Six thousand, nine hundred and thirty four ways of being trapped, of being beaten, of having no hope at all. 

The Doctor rolled the chalk in her hand as she mused another brilliant idea, biting her bottom lip as she tried to work out how to get her hands on that much authentic Italian spaghetti. She nodded, the plan seemed like it could work, and there was no shame in trying.

She leant forward and added one more tally mark.

Six thousand, nine hundred and thirty four absolute failures. And now for escape attempt number six thousand, nine hundred and thirty five.


End file.
